


The Man I've Never Known

by plumedy



Category: Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Childhood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father Figures, Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 11:23:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4958683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumedy/pseuds/plumedy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To me, he's simply the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Man I've Never Known

Many a boy like me wished someone put a hand on his shoulder and said, _I know. You’re not alone._

There’s a place I miss. I have never been there, and yet I remember it well: the sunny garden with apple trees so ancient they hardly yield any more of the delightful golden fruit; the old house that’s made of history as much as it’s made of wood and brick; the joy of being comforted and loved.

I miss all the people I’ve never known. I miss the elderly hardworking painter with a twinkle in his eye.

It is a promised land which comes to me in my dreams; I can walk through its golden emptiness, hear the laughter of a small boy playing in the garden. The sound of my voice doesn’t reach the ghosts inhabiting the house: and my flesh is as immaterial to them as they are to me. But I can look. And I can long for that which I have never had.

_Home._

I rarely use his name. To me, he’s simply the Doctor - a man of mystery; a man who walks with death - a thing from which dreams are not so far removed.

The streetlamps cast soft diffused light upon him, and he smiles at me broadly, as is his custom. I have the strangest feeling that he’s come from that place - that he’s one of the people I’ve never known and yet love with all my heart.

I hope he doesn’t notice how desperately I squeeze his hand when answering his greetings.

“Doctor,” I say, “I’m glad to see you.”

 _I know_ , I read in his expression.


End file.
